Sunday, April 17, 2011

There’s nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. And I don’t think there’s anything courageous about asking for sacrifice from those who can least afford it and don’t have any clout on Capitol Hill.

Joe Scarborough criticized Obama for "insulting" Ryan by referring to his proposal as "un-American":

Scarborough misses the point. Obama was not getting personal with Ryan; he was stating that deficit reduction and tax cuts for wealthy are contradictory, and that balancing the budget on the backs of the vulnerable is not compatible with his vision of America. Ryan would cut spending by $5.8 trillion–and then offset that by $4.2 trillion in tax cuts. The top tax rate would be reduced from 35% to 25%. How would Ryan make up for the lost revenue? Through his faith in discredited supply-side, trickle-down economics. Obama is right: Ryan's plan is not serious and not courageous. Instead, as Paul Krugman put it, it is ludicrous and cruel.